Pour plug removal was fairly extensive and there were numerous pits found in the casting but fortunately, the majority of these were on non-showing surfaces. Some filling with putty was required to fill in those pits that were exposed on viewing surfaces. Some minor surface blemishes were present but were easily sanded away.

Assembly was straight forward with basically no difficulties. I beefed up the axles by roughly .080 inch to allow for better clearance of the wheels to the hull. I used layered styrene cut to the outlines of the axles until I was satisfied with the additional clearance. I also used some copper wire that I had from old electrical wire instead of what was supplied in the kit. There is no room for error with the amount of wire provided with the kit. I had found that to be true from my previous experience with building Verlinden's V-100. (See the Other Models page for the V-100) I inserted .030 inch diameter brass rod into the wheels to mate with the axles for added strength.

Part detail was fairly crisp. I did not check for kit accuracy as it looks good to me.

There are no decals provided in this kit.

Pictorial reference for this subject was extremely difficult to find. I had originally wanted to model this kit as a Saudi Arabian National Guard service as I know that the SANG uses the V-150 but I was not able to obtain any reference. Numerous emails to the SA Embassy and others were not answered so I decided to use a fictitious color scheme from a Middle Eastern or African possibility.

The Details:
The only non-kit items added were a small patch of anti-slip surface made from fine modeling sandpaper mounted to the top of the engine intake deck, some styrene added to the exhaust grill and the antenna from styrene rod. The antenna mount is a separate Verlinden item. The exhaust pipes were drilled out with a pin vise.

The Base:
This is fashioned from scrap oak and measures 7-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 3/4 inches. It is stained with and oil based stain and sealed with multiple coats of polyurethane.

The nameplate (as well as the data card) were printed on my computer.

The 'concrete' surface is sheet styrene that was scribed and the easel was made from styrene.

Painting, Weathering and Finishing:
My usual mix of acrylic and enamel paints and oil washes were used on this subject as well as the use of acrylic overall flat coating and pastel chalks for the final weathering.

Actual Data:
        Combat Weight: 21,000 lbs.
        Hull Length: 18 ft 8 in.
        Width: 7 ft 5 in.
        Height: 6 ft 6 in.
        Crew: 5 (?)
        Ground Clearance: 25.5 in.
        Armor: Cadloy steel plate, protects against 7.62mm and shell splintering.
        Power Plant: Chrysler 191-hp liquid cooled V-8 Gasoline engine (original equipment).
        Amphibious: Full (with no preparation).
        Power to Weight Ratio: 20:23 hp/metric ton.
        Suspension: 4x4 all wheel powered, front wheel steering, solid beam axle,
                           semi-elliptical multileaf spring, double hydraulic shock absorbers.
        Speed: 55mph road, 3.1mph water.
        Range: 500 miles road, 400 miles cross country.
        Obstacle Clearance: 2-3 ft.
        Main Armament: 81mm Mortar with 62 rounds stored in hull.
        Secondary Armament:
                1x 7.72mm Machine Gun with 3,800 rounds.
                or
                1x 12.7mm Machine Gun with 1,400 rounds.
       

General info:
Built by Cadillac-Gage in the United States, the V-150 Commando series of Armored Personnel Carrier has enjoyed a fair amount of success on the export market being used by at least 20 nations and is available in at least 16 different configurations. It is also known as the LAV-150 and V-150S (S=Saudi Arabia) to mention a few designations. The Commando saw limited service with the USAF during the latter stages of the Vietnam War as the M-706 and was used mostly for airfield security mounting a variety of machine gun mounts.

The mortar carrier was originally designed to carry am 81mm mortar but, has also been used to mount a 60mm mortar as well as an 82mm mortar.

References:

Federation of American Scientists

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